Improvement in electric clocks



A. HALL. ELECTRIC CLOCK.

No. 11,723. Patented Sept. 26, 1854.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN ELECTRIC CLOCKS.

Specification forming'partgif Letters Patent No. l [,723, dated September 26, 1854.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ALEXANDER HALL, of'

Loydsville, in the county of Belmont andState of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Clocks; and I do hereby declare that the followingis afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a-front view of an electric clock constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a back View, and Fig. 4. a top view.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates, first, to certain mechanism which is employed for the purpose of transmitting to the pendulum the motion which is obtained by the alternate attraction of the armatures of two electro-magnets, as an electric current from a battery is caused to flow through them in alternate succession.

It relates, secondly, to certain means of closing the circuit as it is ehanged'from one electromagnet to the other to give motionto the pendulum.

It relates, thirdly, to a certain arrangement of permanent magnets for the purpose of securing and holding the connection by which the circuit is closed until the direction of the circuit requires to be changed.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to de scribe its construction and operation.

A is the dial of the clock, B B are plates, and O 0 posts, which form the frame, all being of metal.

D is the back, which is formed of wood.

G is the pendulum-rod, suspended by a spring, g, from a post standing out from the back D.

E E are two electro-magncts placed side by side in a horizontal position. Each of these magnets is coiled round with one of two wires, f f, which branch ofi' from and again unite in the wire F, which is supposed to be connected at opposite ends with a battery. The two branches f f of the wire F are for the purpose of making an electric current pass through one and the other of the magnets alternately by breaking the circuit through one branch and closing it through the other.

H is a beam capable of vibrating on a fixed center, a, and having attached to it at equal distances from the center the armatures e e of the two magnets E E, and being so arranged that by a slight vibrating motion one of the armaturcs will be brought in contact and the other out of contact with the poles of its magnet. 1

To the rear end of the beam H is rigidly at tached a thin, straight, flat steel spring, I), which possesses suflicientstren gth to transmitthe necessary amount of maintaining-power from the beam to the pendulum,and is connected to the upper part of the pendulum-rod by a light wire, 0. The pendulum as it vibrates gives motion to a light lever, I, of the first order, which vibrates on a fixed stud, i. This lever is formed of wire and forked at the bottom to receive the pendulum-rod, and the rod is allowed some play in the fork. At its top end it carries a small wooden block, d, on either side of which is secureda piece of soft iron, m, and on the top are two pieces of silver wire, k k, which are bent toward opposite sides and made of wedgeform at their extremities.

' On one side of the leverI a pair of permanent magnets, J J, are secured to the back D of the clock, and on the opposite side a similar pair, J J. The magnets of each pair are sep arated by a piece of wood between them. The pair J J is intended to form part of the circuit through the branch wire f, and the pair J J part of the circuit through the branch wire f, and hence the wires are connected with their lower ends. The upper ends are not connected, in order that the circuits may be broken, but each pair has two small pieces of brass, j j, soldered to the upper poles in such a position that the wedge-points of the wires 70 75 will be carried between and away from them alternately by the vibrations of the pendulum, and thus close the circuit through one branch wire and break the circuit through the other in alternate succession. When the point of either wire is between and in contact with the pieces jj the piece of soft iron m on the sameside is in contact with or near enough to the poles of the magnets to be sufficiently under the influences of their attraction to hold the point in its place, and thus keep the circuit closed until the proper time for breaking it.

The manner in which the change of the direction of the current from one branch wire is effected is as follows: Suppose the pendulum to be in motion and to have just completed its stroke to the right, as shown in Fig. 3-. The

lower end of the lever I has been moved to the right also, and the upper end toward the left, and the point of the wire 70 has just arrived between the brass pieces jj on the top of the magnets J J, as shown in Fig. l. The circuit through the branch f of the wire is just closed and about to follow the direction of the black arrows in the several figures of the drawings through the electro-magnet E. The beam H, which occupies the position shown in Fig. 4, with the armature e in contact with the magnet E, which is now inoperative, is just about to move under the influence of the magnet E on the armature c. The movements of the beam and of the pendulum take place, and the movement of the latter, just before it terminates, causes the point of the wire 70 to be withdrawn from between the brass pieces jj on the magnets J J and the points of the wire 70 to be brought between the brass pieces j j on the magnets J J, and thus the circuit through the wire f is broken and a circuit is formed through the wire f, following the direction of the red arrow. The magnet E new attracts the armature c, and the beam and pendulum reassume the position shown'in Fig. 4,. By a repetition of this operation the beam receives a continuous vibratory motion and gives mo-' tion to the clock-movement, and at the same time furnishes the maintaining-power to keep up the motion of the pendulum.

The main arbor K of the clock-movement receives motion from the beam by means of two click-teeth, n n, at equal distances from the center of the beam, which act upon two ratchetwheeis, l l, on the arbor as the beam vibrates. These ratchets have thirty teeth and are arranged upon the shaft with the teeth of one opposite the centers of the spaces between the teeth of the other. One click falls into a space at every vibration of the beam, and thus causes the ratchets to move half a tooth, requiring sixty vibrations of the beam to cause one revolution of the arbor.

The arbor has the second-hand of the clock fast upon it, and the pendulum is of the proper length to vibrate once in a second, and thus the second-hand is caused to make one revolution in a minute.

Motion is transmitted from the arbor K to the minute and hour hands by a suitable train of wheel-work, which it is not necessary here to describe.

This clock is believed to possess advantages over all electric clocks hitherto used, One advantage is believed to consist in the application of the power to the pendulum near the axis of oscillation, as in the common clock driven by springs or weights, instead near the pendulum-weight; for when applied there any variation in the strength of the current from the battery will not affect themovements of the pendulum as when applied below. Another advantage consists in the method of applying the power by means of the walkingbeam and spring, the spring having the efiect of preventing shocks and any deviations of the pendulum from a uniform isochronal movement which might otherwise be caused by avariation in the strength of the battery or by atmospheric influences.

The method of closing the circuits through the two electro-magnets and the arrangement for securing the connection by which the circuits are closed are such as to insure perfect operation,

It is scarcely necessary to add that this clock is capable of communicating motion to a number of other clocks, and for this purpose it is more particularly intended. The motion may be given to the other clocks in various ways but the simplest way is to furnish each of the other clocks with a sin gle electro-magnet and carry one of the wires f f round the whole series of magnets before re-uniting it with the wire F. A beam with the armature of the magnet attached to one end and with a light spring at the other, applied in such a way as to throw the armature away from the magnet when the circuit through the wire is broken, will serve to give motion to the main arbor of each clock in the same manner as the beam H gives motion to the arbor K.

What I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Giviu' g motionto the clock-movement and to the pendulum by means of a'beam, H, and spring I), said beam carrying and derivin g its motion from the-armaturcs of two electro-magnets, E E, through which electric circuits are alternately closed and broken, and transmitting motion to the ClOZ'lLlllOVGlllGilb by means of clicks and ratchets er their equivalents, and to the pendulum by means of the spring b, which serves to maintain its isochronous vibration without regard to the strength of the current, and thereby make the clock. keep perfect time and serve to regulate a number of electric clocks, substantially as herein described.

2. The manner of closing and breaking the circuit of the battery so as to make it pass through one and the other of the electromagnets alternately by means of wedge-shaped points 70 76 of silver or other metal, which are caused to vibrate by the movements of the pendulum and pass between small posts jj of suitable metal attached to permanent magnets or other conductors which form parts of the separate circuits through the two electromagnets, as herein described.

3. Securing the connections which close the separate circuits, when they are made by means of two pieces of soft iron, 6 c, which vibrate .in connection with the wedge'shaped pieces 70 7a, or other equivalent means of closing the circuit, and are brought, when the circuit is closed, into contact, or nearly into contact, with permanent magnets d J, as herein fully set forth.

,ELLEEL HALL. Witnesses;

S. H, WALES, Juo. W, HAMILTON, 

